Telecommunications network provider Chorus hit a new high after rising 15c or 1.75 per cent to $8.74. Its previous high was $8.66 set on September 1, 2020.
Retirement village operator Summerset Group was up 35c or 3.78 per cent to $9.60 while its rival Ryman Healthcare is in a trading halt and preparing for a $902m capital raise.
Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said it was surprising there were no real signs of selling to fund the Ryman offer (one new share for every 2.81 held at a discounted price of $5 per share).
“Maybe people already have money put aside, and there are no worries that the capital raise won’t be done as it is underwritten.”
Goodson said a lot of the market participants were spending time looking at the flurry of financial results in Australia and New Zealand.
Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.8 per cent to 7411.2 points at 6pm NZ time.
Consistent performer Skellerup Holdings was marked down 24c or 4.4 per cent to $5.21 after providing a solid half-year result but like others before them, talked about challenging times.
Skellerup’s revenue increased 10 per cent to $165.52m and net profit slipped 1 per cent to $22.97m for the six months ending December. Operating earnings (ebita) were a record $33.5m, up 3 per cent, and it is paying an increased interim dividend of 8c a share on March 16.
The rapid increase of inflation and general slowdown in demand is a different challenge to what the company faced 12 months ago, Skellerup told the market. It is forecasting full-year net profit of $48m-$52m.
Goodson said Skellerup has been on a terrific run and it missed analyst numbers by 4 per cent but the company suggested it will meet the full-year guidance.
Apple exporter Scales Corp was down a further 8c or 2.37 per cent to $3.30, and Goodson said there were market concerns about accessing and picking their orchards because of the flooding.
Fresh produce distributor and exporter T&G Global declined 6c or 2.54 per cent to $2.30; and leading wine exporter Delegat Group was down 14c to $9.71. Napier Port shed 6c or 2.14 per cent to $2.75; and Move Logistics was down 4c or 3.64 per cent to $1.06.
Auckland International Airport was up 9c to $8.75; Mercury Energy added 5c to $6.45; Meridian gained 4c to $5.49; Freightways rose 30c or 3.19 per cent to $9.70; and Mainfreight was up 25c to $76.25.
Gentrack rose 13c or 4.71 per cent to $2.89; Smartpay improved 5c or 3.7 per cent to $1.40; NZ Oil & Gas was up 2c or 4.71 per cent to 44.5c; Solution Dynamics increased 13c or 5.94 per cent to $2.32; and Rakon gained 2c or 1.9 per cent to $1.07.
SkyCity was up a further 3c to $2.60 following its strong half-year result, but Tourism Holdings gave up 5c to $4.10 after upgrading its full-year earnings.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ, down 3c to $2.19, described the past year in one word: Tough. Majority owned by CDL Investments, Millennium reported a 45.78 per cent fall in net profit to $21.71m on revenue of $144.2m, down 12.5 per cent, for the 12 months ending December. It is paying a final dividend of 3c a share on May 12.
Other decliners were Westpac Bank down 88c or 3.89 per cent to $25.10; Restaurant Brands decreasing 10c to $6.30; Synlait Milk giving up 7c or 2.01 per cent to $3.41; NZME shedding 3c or 2.52 per cent to $1.16; Winton Land losing 5c or 2.42 per cent to $2.02; and MHM Automation down 3c or 3.49 per cent to 83c.
Bremworth, up 0.005c to 46c, has had flooding at its Napier carpet-making plant but its Auckland and Whanganui plants were not affected by the storm and are operating. Bremworth has enough inventory to meet all demand requirements while the Napier plant is offline.
Third Age Health Services, unchanged at $1.54, reported a strong third quarter ending December, with revenue increasing 36 per cent on the second quarter and gross profit up 38 per cent.
